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Spain - D.A.S. Audio has announced the appointment of Carlos A. Henao to the position of sales and technical support. In his new position, Henao will serve as the company's US regional sales account representative where he will identify sales opportunities, assist customers with product selection, and guide them through all aspects of the sales transaction.

Henao has travelled extensively throughout Latin America and Europe, where he served as both FOH and monitor engineer for a number of touring acts. For the past 20 years, Henao operated his own production company, Paradise Production Services, and was responsible for a number of high profile installations, including Miami, Florida's Club Space, Club Level, and Prive, as well as the Jet Lounge in New York, NY. He also spent ten

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USA - At this year's Motor Show in Detroit, XL Video Deutschland assisted three major German manufacturers. VW, Audi and Mercedes Benz all put their faith in the media technology specialists. The XL Video team was engaged by the three German companies as media equipment general service providers for the international trade fair that ran from the 11 to 25 January 2009.

The commissions involved the provision of all media and LED equipment for the booths of VW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz, the provision of HD control rooms for the VW and Audi press conferences, and the presentation of the new E-Class from Mercedes-Benz in the Westin Hotel, Detroit, on the eve of the first press day.

For the Volkswagen launch, XL Video chose a 4-mm Hibino Black Face comprising 70 modules and measuring 5376 x 2880 mm for the main video wall. This high-resolution screen was framed by over 100sq.m of Barc

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Ireland - The first of PR Lighting's new V-LED Spell pixelated wall tile displays has been permanently sited outside the new Dusk nightclub in Dublin.

When Gary Payne, owner of the €2m euro development, set out his plan to convert his former music lounge above Liz Delaneys Bar into a contemporary nightclub, he knew that an optimally-sited digital promotion and graphics display would attract customers from the retail park in which his leisure complex is based, like moths to a flame.

Situated in the densely-populated working class area of Coolock, close to Dublin Airport, he realised he had a potential catchment of 250,000 people to aim at - and that the 12-tile, 3.6m x 2.4m PR Lighting display, triggered from an ArKaos GrandVJ media server - would create just the wow factor he needed.

The club's technical integrator, Frank Murray, who heads locally-based specialists, Audiote

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Indochine X PixMob Fan Immersion

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's - 40 thousand LED pixels on a ceiling!!! Indochine's whirlwind tour transports fans to another level of the live experience - immersing them from floor to ceiling with PixMob's X4 wristbands, and an LED ceiling made entirely of its NOVA Minis! With the vision of Indochine's creative team, PixMob used its LED fan-technology to turn attendees and venues into an ocean of effects, and a starry sky of LED magic. Très très cool!

Read more about the Indochine tour in the latest issue of LSi

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UK - When the technical managers at the National Theatre in London decided they needed to update the lighting control desks for each of the three venues, they knew it would be a challenge. The 22 technical staff knew their existing desks inside out, and would only accept something with enough power and a familiar operating style.

About two years ago, the National began the process of trialling a range of desks across six different manufacturers. Each desk was tried out and formally evaluated before a final decision was made. Lighting resources manager Michael Atkinson says: "We knew that whatever we went for, it was always going to perform differently to its predecessor. It is a huge undertaking to update all three theatres with something all the staff like - each venue needs a main desk and backup, plus there is associated hardware which needs to be changed."

Eventu

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UK - Stage Electrics has announced new developments to the shape of its business, designed to meet the needs of a changing marketplace.

The company has expanded its technical field sales team to 32 sales professionals based all over the UK. This move helps Stage Electrics to achieve its objective of getting closer to individual customers in order to serve them better, says the company. In addition, Stage Electrics has restructured staff at its headquarters to create a central sales and hire support team. The team with specialists from all disciplines is available for customers from 8 am until 8 pm.

Further reinforcement of the company's drive to get closer to their customers is the introduction of new regional support offices. It now has locations in Edinburgh, Manchester, Tyneside, Cambridge, Birmingham, London, Exeter and Plymouth all supported by their Bristol headquarters.

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UK - Branding specialist Sunbaba opens the doors of its new London studio this week. The studio will be managed by account director Jonathan Booth.

The addition comes as Sunbaba's work with London-based agencies and for events in the capital increased in the last 12 months, prompting the need for a London office for clients to discuss complicated branding projects and see Sunbaba in action, says the company.

Sunbaba launched a range of new products in 2008 for both indoor and outdoor events, expanding the range from air permeable fabrics for outdoor branding to include correx board, voiles and soft fabrics and a range of eco-friendly products.

Jonathan Booth said: "Having a base in London makes us more accessible to our clients in the capital. Customers are welcome to drop into the studio at any time to see fabric samples, review artworks or simply to have a coffee and

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Singapore - W-DMX is playing a major role in lighting Singapore's tallest viewing tower - the Tiger Sky Tower. Located in Sentosa, it offers panoramic views at 131m above sea level across Singapore, Sentosa, the Southern Islands, and all the way to Malaysia and the Indonesian islands.

Creative Lighting Asia (CLA) worked with Saatchi and Saatchi Singapore for the re-branding of the Sentosa Sky Tower for Asia Pacific Breweries. Now renamed the Tiger Sky Tower, the viewing attraction has been given a makeover with Tiger Beer branding with part of the central column becoming a giant Tiger beer bottle.

CLA was asked to come up with a solution for lighting the tower in a cost-effective and environmentally friendly manor. 60 Color Kinetics Color Blast Powercore were used to light the rotating cabin, with an additional 30 iWhite Blasts used to light the column above and below the cabi

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UK - Greenled, supplier of energy saving solutions will be at Ecobuild 2009, demonstrating the core reasons why professionals shaping the built environment should now be using LEDs.

Displaying a range of 35 advanced LED products, including downlighters and retrofit lamps, Greenled will be on hand to explain how LED lighting can benefit the design and construction market, and to dispel any misconceptions surrounding the technology's capabilities.

In the spotlight will be Greenled's collection of recessed downlighters, highlighting why there is no longer the need to install technology using 25W - 40W to downlight a space any more.

"LED lighting means modern, practical and flexible designs, impressive light output, longevity and energy savings in line with regulatory demands," commented James Millar, managing director of Greenled. "LED lighting technology has dev

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UK - eMerging, UK distributors for Merging Technologies Pyramix DAW, has upgraded the twin Pyramix DAWs at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden to run Pyramix version 6 software, as part of an upgrade to the in-house broadcasting facilities there.

The Opera House was comprehensively rebuilt in the late 90s, and further work over the past few years had seen the installation of an in-house broadcast centre and an associated sound control room. But following the purchase of DVD label Opus Arte in 2007, the plan has been to expand the number of performances at the ROH that are recorded for subsequent release on DVD with a 5.1 surround soundtrack, and the former sound control room, which wasn't equipped for surround monitoring and mixing, became a liability.

Now a sizable replacement sound control room/audio broadcast centre for radio, TV, and satellite live-to-cinema transmissions

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Germany - FaitalPRO has lined up a number of new products that will be premiered at ProLight & Sound in Frankfurt next month.

Overseas sales manager Flavio Naggi says: "We will introduce several new loudspeakers dedicated to the professional world, which express our 'vital force': a true 'drive' to constantly improve and be ever closer to our sound reinforcement clients - at all levels - by listening to their requests and responding with new technologically rich proposals incorporating the quality for which our brand is a recognised synonym."

In the 1" compression driver area, the introduction of a new, more compact and economical version compared to products already on catalogue is planned. The new 1" HF driver adopts a ring diaphragm based on a 'patent pending' design and re-proposes the high quality and performance of the new FaitalPRO products, says the

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USA - In the afternoon hours prior to the Steelers and Cardinals storming the field at Super Bowl XLIII, John Legend and Journey kicked off the day's festivities with a concert staged just outside of Tampa's Raymond James Stadium. For its sixth consecutive year, NFL called upon Clearwing Productions to provide the sound reinforcement system for its official pre-game party, which this year made use of an L-acoustics Kudo loudspeaker system.

Partially televised on NBC and attended by 10,000 of NFL's 'closest friends', the invite-only Tailgate 2009 concert featured ground-stacked arrays of six Kudo enclosures per side paired with four SB28 subs, all positioned beneath large video screens adjacent to the stage. Four tiny MTD108 enclosures were spread out across the stage lip to provide front-fill coverage, with eight 115XT HiQ wedges available for monitoring. Loudspeakers wer

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Germany - KME will show the first release in a new series of rackmount amplifiers at ProLight & Sound. The DA428 is a four-channel unit, light- weight 19"-2U device equipped with comprehensive DSP features like matrix router, six fully parametric equalizers and two crossover networks.

All parameters can be managed using a simple five-key navigation pad together with four rotary encoders. The sophisticated user interface is completed by a graphic LCD display and four RGB LEDs indicating relevant operation parameters and state of the single channels.

Factory and user presets may be stored inside the unit, an SD- card reader is implemented and can be used to easily transfer preset and system information to other units. An preset editor software and various firmware add- ons are planned.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - High definition outside broadcast specialists Bow Tie Television has installed a SoundField DSF-2 and DSF-3 digital 5.1 microphone system into its second outside broadcast unit, OB2, which has recently been refurbished and rebuilt to handle 5.1 audio with the cooperation of satellite broadcaster Sky. The refurbished broadcast truck and the newly installed SoundField systems will be used to generate 5.1 surround audio for Sky Sports' premier league darts coverage.

"We recorded the World Championship darts event to multitrack at Alexandra Palace in December, using two analogue SoundField systems," explains Sky's operations manager Keith Lane, speaking in the middle of another darts championship match. "The broadcast itself was in stereo, but we took the multitrack recordings back to HQ to see whether we could produce 5.1 coverage of a game to the standard we wa

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UK - The Script's FOH sound engineer John Delf has been using a Midas PRO6 for the band's UK tour. Delf spec'd the PRO6 - supplied by Entec - after mixing the Irish band on a Midas XL8 for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo last December.

"It was my first time using an XL8 and even after just one sound check I had fallen in love with it," he states. "We were performing with a full orchestra and the production was running two XL8s at FOH and three PRO6s for monitors and recording. The house engineer was mixing the orchestra on one XL8 and I was mixing the band on the other. It just sounded so sweet and it was really easy to find my way around the desk. We were up and running really quickly and everything I needed to do mix wise was at my fingertips."

He continues: "Sonically the PRO6 doesn't disappoint and in my opinion sounds better than an analogu

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Web News - A musical based on the Marvel comic book hero Spider-Man will open on Broadway in 2010. Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark will include the story of the superhero's origins and will feature music and lyrics by U2 members Bono and The Edge. It will be directed by Julie Taymor, the creative force behind Disney's long-running Lion King. The musical will open in February 2010 at the Hilton Theatre with preview performances beginning in January. The show is reportedly the most expensive Broadway production ever, costing $40m (£27.6m).

China Crisis - Oasis' debut concerts in China have been cancelled after the authorities revoked the band's licences to play, deeming them "unsuitable". Shows in Beijing and Shanghai due to take place next month have been pulled, and fans are to be reimbursed. Concert promoters said the Chinese culture ministry

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USA - For Trinity United Methodist Church in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, sound has always been an issue. The sanctuary's soaring peaked roof and exceptionally live acoustics lends a majestic touch to the choir, bell choir and pipe organ, but rendered the sermons nearly unintelligible. That was the conflict confronting Music Mart's Tom Gallagher.

"The room had a three-second reverb time, and the musicians loved what it did for the sound," says Gallagher. "But for the pastor, anyone more than about 20ft away could barely get a word out of the sermons. We had to find a way to improve the intelligibility factor without resorting to any acoustic treatment that would impact the room's resonance."

Gallagher found the solution in Community Professional's new ENTASYS column line array system. "We looked into using a steerable array, but it wasn't really practica

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Germany - D.A.S. Audio will be present at this year's ProLight & Sound and will be showing some of its latest developments, including the new Aero and Avant series models, as well as a selection of its wide and varied range of products.

D.A.S. Audio's export sales team will be joined by staff from its subsidiaries, D.A.S. Audio of America and D.A.S. Audio Asia.

(Jim Evans)

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USA - Elation Professional's new IP-rated Design LED 36 Pro LED colour changer can adapt to any application, whether indoors or out, in permanent installations or travelling stage shows, says the company.

The DLED 36 Pro has 108 watts of high-output featuring 36 x 3-watt RGB LEDs (12 red, 12 green and 12 blue). Using a DMX controller, operators can custom blend RGB colours. The DLED 36 Pro can also generate changing colours as a standalone unit, since it's equipped with pre-programmed colour macros and eight built-in programmes that can be called up with or without a DMX controller.

The unit includes a built-in 100V-240V switching power supply, and Edison power in and out and XLR in and out. "Even though it's an IP 65-rated fixture that uses IP 65-rated cable, the connectors are regular Edison and XLR, so you don't have to worry about using special connectors," said

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UK - MTFX was at the Brit awards at Earls Court providing confetti 'butterfly effects' for Chris Martin from Coldplay.

This consisted of three cues, one on each of the chorus of Viva la Vida. To produce the effect the producers hired 12 of MTFXs Confetti storms, four extra large venturi blowers, three extra large spinners and 250kgs of red, white and blue Butterfly confetti.

(Jim Evans)

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Indonesia - UK-based luxury lifestyle store Harvey Nichols recently opened an outlet in Jakarta, the first Harvey Nichols in Southeast Asia. Two separate facades of the upmarket department store in the Grand Indonesia Shopping Mall, feature dynamic exterior lighting schemes powered by 144 Martin Professional Cyclo 04 DMX colour changers.

The two facades measure approximately 20m wide x 30m high and 20m wide x 9m high. The feature facade is made of an aluminum composite panel, double layered with wire mesh and a translucent canvas. The parang motif, a traditional Indonesian batik pattern based on sea wave movement, is showcased on the exterior front façade.

Lighting designer for the Harvey Nichols project is Paul Gunawan, principal designer at PT LITAC Konsultan of Jakarta whose initial lighting brief from client PT Hamparan Nusantara called for the feature facade to be backli

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UK - In late January 2009, six performances of The Memory of WT Stead were made at Steinway Hall in London. These performances by artists Lundahl & Seitl and experimental pianist Cassie Yukawa, immersed their small audiences in worlds of darkness, storytelling and music, all the while exploring the geography and contents of the workshops and recital rooms behind the scenes at the piano maker's flagship store.

Sennheiser was an essential part of the process, providing 12 sets of Series 5 headphones for the small audiences. The quality audio of these headphones enabled Lundahl & Seitl to blur the lines between recorded and live sound, making a dramatic experience even more immersive.

"Our specific need was a pair of headphones with open backs, which would not isolate the visitors from natural spatial sound and the live piano play, and also gave us the best binaural p

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